The invention relates to a device arrangement which comprises a housing and a subassembly which is retained in a releasable manner in the housing on an installation wall. It takes U.S. Pat. No. 4,731,702 A as its departure point.
Device arrangements of the above mentioned type are known, inter alia, as personal computers (PCs). For example, German Utility Model DE 297 20 810 U1 discloses a cuboidal housing in which the actual data processor of a PC is accommodated. Various peripheral devices, namely a chip-card reader, a floppy-disk drive and a ticket printer are installed in the front wall of the housing. Provided for this purpose in the front wall in each case is an introduction compartment, into which it is also possible to push a hard-disk drive. The task of installing a peripheral device in the introduction compartment is laborious because it is necessary, often with the interposition of spacers or guide strips, for screws to be screwed into threaded holes of the peripheral device through the side walls of the introduction compartment in constricted space conditions. Space-related problems also arise when the data and power supply cables are plugged onto corresponding plugs of the peripheral device.
DE 36 03 750 A1 describes a programmable controller in the case of which a row of assembly mounts is suspended on a mounting rail and, by pivoting against the mounting rail, are locked thereon with the aid of a spring-loaded locking element. It is difficult to release the subassembly mount from the mounting rail because the locking element is difficult to reach. It is possible to position on the subassembly mounts subassemblies which, for this purpose, are provided with pivot pins on both sides. Once the pivot pins have been fitted into grooves arranged on the subassembly mount, the subassemblies can be pivoted about said pins. A screw retains the subassemblies in a position in which they are pivoted onto the respective subassembly mount.
The object of the invention is to propose a device arrangement which allows a subassembly to be installed straightforwardly on an installation wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,731,702 A has thus already proposed a device arrangement which comprises a housing, with an opening which can be closed by a cover panel, and a subassembly which is retained in a releasable manner in the housing on an installation element which passes through the housing and is designed as an installation bar. The subassembly is suspended on the installation bar by means of a hook-like mounting element and is retained in its position by the cover panel. The cover panel and the housing consist, at least in a sub-region of an electrically conductive or conductively coated material. In the abovementioned position, a mechanical and electrical connection is produced between the subassembly and the housing with the aid of the cover panel, by stubs located on the cover panel engaging in complementary recesses of the subassembly.
A device arrangement according to the invention comprises a housing and a subassembly which is retained in a releasable manner in the housing on an installation wall, it being the case that the subassembly is suspended on an installation wall by means of a hook-like mounting element and is pressed against the installation wall, and retained in its position, by a cover panel. This allows the subassembly to be installed without the use of tools or fastening means. The spatial limitations for the installation of the connection cables are also dispensed with because the cables can easily be connected to the subassembly in the pivoted-up state (FIG. 2). It is only then that the subassembly is pivoted into its position in which it butts against the installation wall (FIG. 1), and is retained in this position with the aid of the cover panel.
According to the invention, on one side the housing has an opening which can be closed by the cover panel the installation wall has a mounting edge in the vicinity of the opening, andxe2x80x94as seen in the installed state of the subassemblyxe2x80x94the mounting element is provided, on a side of the subassembly which is directed toward the installation wall, with a channel which engages over the mounting edge. Furthermore arranged on the subassembly, beneath the mounting element, is a supporting element which, in the installed state of the subassembly, butts against the installation wall. In its position in which it closes the opening, the cover panel subjects the subassembly to an elastic pressure-exerting torque which presses the supporting element against the installation wall, and the cover panel can be locked to the housing.
The spatial arrangement of the mounting edge of the installation wall in the vicinity of the housing opening facilitates the suspension of the subassembly to a particular extent. For this purpose, the latter is simply suspended on the mounting edge with the aid of the channel of the mounting element. In the installed position of the subassembly, the supporting element butts against the installation wall. If the cover panel is then moved into its position in which it closes the housing opening, and is locked in this position the subassembly, and thus the supporting element, is pressed against the installation wall.
It is advantageous for an electrical connection to be produced between the subassembly and the likewise conductive housing by the cover panel at the same time as the abovementioned retaining function. This is achieved in that the cover panel and the housing are produced, at least in a region of mutual contact, from an electrically conductive or conductively coated material. This ensures a reliable connection between the subassembly and the potential of the housing. The subassembly is thus fixed in captive fashion at its installation location and, as has been mentioned, is electrically connected, at the same time, to the cover panel and the housing.
A preferred embodiment of the device arrangement is characterized in that, on one side, the housing has an opening which can be closed by the cover panel, in that the cover panel can be locked to the housing, in that the installation wall has a mounting edge in the vicinity of the opening, in thatxe2x80x94as seen in the installed state of the subassemblyxe2x80x94the mounting element is provided, on a side of the subassembly which is directed toward the installation wall, with a channel which engages over the mounting edge, in that arranged on the subassembly, beneath the mounting element, is a supporting element which, in the installed state of the subassembly, butts against the installation wall, and in that, in its position in which it closes the opening, the cover panel subjects the subassembly to an elastic pressure-exerting torque which presses the supporting element against the installation wall.
The spatial arrangement of the mounting edge of the installation wall in the vicinity of the housing opening facilitates the suspension of the subassembly to a particular extent. For this purpose, the latter is simply suspended on the mounting edge with the aid of the channel of the mounting element. In the installed position of the subassembly, the supporting element butts against the installation wall. If the cover panel is then moved into its position in which it closes the housing opening, and is locked in this position, the subassembly, and thus the supporting element, is pressed against the installation wall. It is thus fixed in captive fashion at its installation location and, as has been mentioned, is electrically connected, at the same time, to the cover panel and the housing.
For connection to the housing, a first edge of the cover panel is retained at the top border of the installation wall. This preferably takes place in that the first edge of the cover panel is plugged beneath a retaining rib, which runs parallel to the mounting edge, or into a groove, which runs parallel to the mounting edge.
According to a preferred development of the invention, the subassembly comprises an installation cage in which at least one peripheral device can be, or is, installed, and the mounting edge and/or the supporting element are/is fitted on the installation cage. In this way, all the mechanical stressing, e.g. the contact pressure of the cover panel on the subassembly and of the supporting element against the installation wall, is kept away from the actual peripheral device or the peripheral devices.
The installation wall is preferably in the form of a side wall of the housing, in particular the front wall thereof. This renders an additional wall superfluous.
The installation wall is preferably produced from a continuously cast profile.